CHARACTERS OF THE TIGER. 31 



the ferocity of its disposition, and its seeming uselessness for anything but destruction, have been the 

 theme of one of the weirdest, most wonderful melodies of the artist-poet Blake, who sings of it thus : 



" Tiger, tiger, burning bright 

 In the forests of the night, 

 What immortal hand or eye 

 Could frame thy fearful symmetry ? 



" In what distant deeps or skies 

 Burnt the fire of thine eyes ? 

 On what wings dare he aspire ? 

 What the hand dare seize the fire ? 



" And what shoulder, and what art, 

 Could twist the sinews of thy heart ? 

 And when thy heart began to beat, 

 What dread hand ? and what dread feet ? 



" What the hammer ? What the chain ? 

 In what furnace was thy brain ? 

 What the anvil ? What dread grasp 

 Dare its deadly terrors clasp ? 



" When the stars threw down their spears, 

 And water' d heaven with their tears, 

 Did He smile His work to see ? 

 Did He who made the lamb make thee ? 



" Tiger, tiger, burning bright 

 In the forests of the night, 

 What immortal hand or eye 

 Dare frame thy fearful symmetry ? " 



A recent writer* is very anxious to depose the Lion from the post of honour usually assigned 

 to him, that the " Royal Tiger " may reign in his stead. And, although Englishmen will never 

 feel quite happy to see the "Emperor of India" put even on an equality with the "British Lion," 

 we can hardly help thinking that an unprejudiced person would consider the flowing mane and tufted 

 tail of the Lion more than counterbalanced by the brilliant colour, more perfect form, and superior size 

 of the Tiger. 



The anatomical characters are so similar to those of the other Cats, that it is needless to dwell 

 upon, them ; they are, indeed, for the most part so exactly like those of the Lion, that even the illus- 

 trious Cuvier is said to have been completely worsted in an attempt to separate the mingled bones of 

 the two species. In the skull, however, the muzzle is shorter than in the Lion, and forms a bolder 

 curve with the forehead, a character very well seen in the living animal, and making the Tiger's face 

 much rounder, and more like that of the Domestic Cat than the Lion's. In the skeleton, as in that of 

 other Cats, the flexibility of the spinal column is very noticeable, as also is the arrangement of the 

 limb bones, especially those of the hind limb, which are so disposed as to form a sort of double C-spring. 

 (See the figure of the Lion's skeleton on p. 5.) When a Tiger leaps, he first crouches down, bending 

 the backbone into a strong downward curve by means of the great muscles which lie beneath it, at 

 the same time contracting the flexor muscles of the limbs, more particularly of the hind limbs, so 

 as to make their three divisions thigh, leg, and foot set at an acute angle to one another. He then 

 brings into play the immense extensor muscles, which are especially well developed in all leaping 

 animals, the back and limbs are straightened, and the animal, weighty as it is, is projected forwards 

 with immense force. 



The pupil of the eye is round. The tail is long, and devoid of a terminal tuft, and there is no 

 mane like the Lion's, although the cheeks bear large whisker-like tufts of stiff hairs. Similar bristles 

 occur on the chin, lips, and eyebrows, those on the cheek being especially large, and constituting the 

 sensitive vibrissce which are so noticeable in most Cats, as well as in many other animals. All these 



* Sir Joseph Fayrer : " The Royal Tiger of Bengal : his life and death." 



